Omnichannel

Lululemon has opened a new concept store in Toronto that’s unlike anything the retailer has done to date.   The 10,000-sq.-ft. store is part retail, part health food café, part gallery — and part practice studio, according to a report by torontolife.com. It even boasts a trailer.    For more, and photos, click here.

Morrisons is leveraging its partnership with Amazon to deliver the next wave of convenience for its time-starved shoppers.   The United Kingdom-based grocer plans to install hundreds of Amazon Lockers throughout its supermarkets this year, a move that allows customers to pick up Amazon orders at the store rather than wait for a home delivery.   

Target shoppers will be doing real cartwheels next time they launch their discount app.

The mass merchandiser quietly launched an experimental customer loyalty program that allows shoppers to rack up points during store visits. Called “redperks” on the company’s Website, the program rewards Target shoppers with 10 points for every dollar spent in stores. Once shoppers hit 5,000 points, they can choose their reward.

Mobile retailing’s time has arrived.   Mobile devices are beginning to dominate the commerce landscape, and retailers ready to capitalize on this trend will be successful at driving transactions for the shopping seasons to follow.  

When mobile shoppers care enough to send the very best, they trade Hallmark cards in favor of digital gift cards.  

Tom Cruise isn’t the only one with “a need for speed.” Now it is also a business imperative for online shoppers.  

Triple Five’s American Dream project in the New Jersey Meadowlands got closer to the finish line today with the announcement that Nickelodeon would be attaching its name and entertainment brands to the retail-entertainment center’s theme park.   To be called Nickelodeon Universe, the 8.5-acre indoor amusement park — reputed by Triple Five to be the Western Hemisphere’s largest — will feature rides themed by Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, Blaze, and the Monster Machines.  

Search engines are getting knocked down a peg when it comes to where consumers begin their online research.   More than two-thirds (67%) of shoppers now begin their online searches on a retail site, not a search engine, according to “Browsing & Buying Behavior by Category: 2016,” a report from HookLogic.